Kavanaugh And Accuser Ford Called To Testify Before Judiciary Committee Monday

WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 13: Committee Chairman U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) speaks during a markup hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee September 13, 2018 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. A request ...WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 13: Committee Chairman U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) speaks during a markup hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee September 13, 2018 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. A request during the hearing by the Democrats to subpoena documents on Supreme Court nominee Brett KavanaughÕs job as staff secretary in the George W. Bush administration was rejected by the Republicans. Chairman Grassley announced that the committee will hold its final vote on the nomination on September 20, 2018. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)MORE LESS

Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and research psychologist Christine Blasey Ford, who on Sunday publicly accused Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her in high school, have been called to testify publicly before the Senate Judiciary Committee next Monday, committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) announced Monday.

That means the committee’s scheduled Thursday vote on Kavanaugh’s confirmation has been delayed.

Grassley said in a statement: “As I said earlier, anyone who comes forward as Dr. Ford has done deserves to be heard. My staff has reached out to Dr. Ford to hear her account, and they held a follow-up call with Judge Kavanaugh this afternoon. Unfortunately, committee Democrats have refused to join us in this effort.”

“However, to provide ample transparency, we will hold a public hearing Monday to give these recent allegations a full airing,” Grassley said.

Still, Democrats have called for the FBI to complete a full investigation into Ford’s allegations before the confirmation process proceeds.

“If we fail to do it before the hearing, we’re going to be shooting in the dark,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) said in an MSNBC interview, responding to the news about the invitations to testify Monday. “We literally will be asking questions with blindfolds on.”

A spokesperson for committee Ranking Member Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) said her office was caught off guard with Grassley’s announcement.

Matt Shuham (@mattshuham)
is a reporter in TPM’s New York office covering corruption, extremism and other beats. Prior to joining TPM, he was associate editor of The National Memo and an editorial intern at Rolling Stone.